‘We’re actually our own problems’ — Rwanda’s President Kagame on Africa’s retarded growth

The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, has expressed frustration over what he describes as the lack of decisive action among African leaders towards the continent’s development.

According to him, there is a prevailing mindset that external actors will bear the responsibility for Africa’s progress, which has led to complacency among some leaders.

Speaking at the CEO Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, President Kagame urged African leaders to move beyond rhetoric and focus on delivering tangible development outcomes, rather than being content with marginal improvements in a few sectors.

“There is a mentality out there—a sort of mindset on our continent—that somebody out there is going to foot the bill of our development, and that has undermined our effort to contribute as much as we can ourselves for our own development,” he said.

The Rwandan leader also bemoaned the lack of cooperation and the excessive bureaucracy across African institutions, which he argued continue to hamper the continent’s progress.

“The systems are so bureaucratic that you imagine they live in another world. Africa should be far ahead of where we are now, and we shouldn’t take any comfort that some progress has been made here or there.

“We just need to do what we have to do—and we have all the means to do it. So we are actually our own problems,” he stated.